Irish Look to Move Above .500 in the BIG EAST

Television: ESPN Regional Television (Dave Sims, Jim Spanarkel), seen in the South Bend area on WBND-TV, also on WAV-TV in Indianapolis and Madison Square Garden Network

Live Radio: Host Communications Inc. (Jack Lorri, Jack Nolan) originates the Notre Dame Radio Network (includes WNDU-1490 AM and 92.9 FM in South Bend, WEFM-95.9 FM in Michigan City and WGON-860 in Marion).

TONIGHT'S GAME: The University of Notre Dame basketball team plays its second of three road games tonight as it takes on Rutgers. Notre Dame has won four of its past six games, including a 73-65 win over St. John's at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, and enters tonight's contest with an overall record of 11-7 and a 5-5 BIG EAST mark.

In the win over the Red Storm, senior forward Pat Garrity (Monument, Colo.) led the way with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds while sophomore guard Keith Friel (Durham, N.H.) had 16 points and senior forward Derek Manner (Webster, Texas) had 10.

Notre Dame scored the first seven points of the SJU game and led 23-11 with 8:47 left in the first half, before the Red Storm scored 21 of the half's final 28 points for a 32-30 lead at intermission.

The Irish tied the game at 42-42 with 10:24 left, but St. John's pulled out to a 51-44 lead with 7:02 left. Notre Dame then took control of the game with a 19-3 run as Friel scored 12 points in the final 6:07 of the game.

Felipe Lopez led St. John's with 13 points while Collin Charles had 11.

After today's game, the Irish return to action against Georgetown on Saturday for a 12:00 p.m. EST game at the MCI Center.

Rutgers enters tonight's game with an overall record of 8-11 and is 2-9 in the BIG EAST. Rutgers last action came in a 73-56 loss to Connecticut on Saturday night.

THE NOTRE DAME-RUTGERS SERIES: Tonight's game is the 10th meeting between Notre Dame and Rutgers and the Irish lead the series by a 5-4 count. Since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96, each team has won two games, including a 91-76 win by Notre Dame as the Joyce Center on January 11. Notre Dame head coach John MacLeod has a 2-2 record in his career vs. Rutgers.

In the victory by Notre Dame earlier this season, the Irish led from the tip and opened up a 20-point lead, 41-21, with 7:04 left in the first half. Notre Dame led by 17, 49-32 at halftime, and the closest the Scarlet Knights got to in the second half was 12 points.

Garrity was the high scorer in the game with 32 points while junior center Phil Hickey (Wellsboro, Pa.) had 16, Friel scored 12 and junior guard Antoni Wyche (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) had 11.

INJURY UPDATE: Friel suffered a thigh contusion with 1:03 left in Saturday's win over St. John's. Friel did not practice Monday or Tuesday and his status is questionable for the Rutgers game.

BIG EAST START: Notre Dame's 5-5 record in BIG EAST play this year is the best start for the Irish in its three years as a conference member. In 1995-96, Notre Dame started 2-8 and was 2-9 after 11 games. Last season, Notre Dame was 3-7 and 4-7 after 11 games.

Notre Dame's 11-7 record is the best Irish mark after 18 games since the 1994-95 team also started 11-7. The last time Notre Dame was better than 11-7 after 18 games was 1988-89 -- when the Irish were 14-4.

ROAD WINS: With the victory at St. John's on Saturday, the Irish claimed their third BIG EAST Conference road victory of the season, surpassing the total number of wins Notre Dame had on the road its first two seasons in the league. In 1995-96, Notre Dame defeated St. John's 86-83 at Madison Square Garden on January 31, 1996, for its first BIG EAST road victory. Last season, the Irish won at Syracuse, 73-58, on January 18, 1997.

This season, Notre Dame has won three games in its first six league road tests. The Irish won the league opener at Pittsburgh 73-69 on December 6, prior to beating West Virginia by a 74-72 count in Morgantown on January 15. Notre Dame became the first visiting school this season to win at the WVU Coliseum and snapped a West Virginia five-game BIG EAST home court winning streak.

KNOCKING OFF THE TOP 25: Notre Dame's win over Syracuse on Jan. 21 gave the Irish their second win over a top 25 team in seven days. Syracuse was ranked No. 15 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today poll at the time of the game while Notre Dame beat West Virginia on Jan. 15 by a 74-72 tally. West Virginia was ranked No. 20 in the AP poll and No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today poll at the time of that game. Before the win over the Mountaineers, the last time Notre Dame had defeated a nationally-ranked opponent was February 17, 1994, when the Irish defeated No. 22 Marquette 68-58. The WVU win snapped a 20-game losing streak to ranked teams.

IRISH SHOOTING A KEY IN BIG EAST: Notre Dame's field goal and three-point field goal shooting percentages have been drastically different in its BIG EAST wins and losses.

In BIG EAST wins, Notre Dame is shooting 53.2 percent from the field (140 for 263) and 46.7 percent from three-point range (36 for 77). In BIG EAST losses, the Irish are shooting at 38.2 percent from the field (110 for 288) and 21.2 percent (21 for 99) from three-point range.

91 POINTS A BIG EAST HIGH: Notre Dame's 91 points in its win against Rutgers on Jan. 11 was the most number of points the Irish have scored in a BIG EAST game in its two-plus years of membership in the league. The previous high was 90 vs. West Virginia in the Joyce Center last season.

IRISH EXCEL IN CLASSROOM: Once again, the Notre Dame basketball team had another successful semester academically as a total of five players made the Dean's List for the fall '97 semester. Making the Dean's List were: Academic All-American Pat Garrity, Phil Hickey, Derek Manner, Paul Rainey and Nick Wills.

CAREER HIGH FOR GARRITY: Garrity scored a career-high 37 points vs. Seton Hall on Jan. 17 as he shot 12 for 22 from the field and was 12 of 14 from the free throw line. Garrity also pulled down 13 rebounds in the contest.

Garrity scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds in the win over Syracuse on January 21 and now has a total of five double-doubles on the season and 17 in his career. All five of his double-doubles this season have come in BIG EAST contests.

GARRITY, FRIEL HONORED BY BIG EAST: For his efforts against West Virginia and Seton Hall, Garrity was selected as the BIG EAST player of the week on Jan. 19 and shared the award with Duane Woodward of Boston College. The award marks the second time in Garrity's career that he has won it.

Friel was named the BIG EAST player of the week on Jan. 26 for his performance against Syracuse and shared the award with Boubacar Aw of Georgetown.

GARRITY FOULING OUT A RARITY: Garrity fouled out of the game vs. Connecticut on Jan. 2, as he scored 15 points in just 19 minutes of playing time. The game marked the first foul out for Garrity in 51 contests, as he last fouled out of a game vs. St. John's on Feb. 11, 1996. The 19 minutes were the fewest Garrity played in a game since he played 14 minutes against Oregon in the finals of the Far West Classic in 1994.

GARRITY BREAKS CONSECUTIVE GAMES PLAYED RECORD: Garrity has started 102 consecutive games in his collegiate career, dating back to his freshman debut in 1994, for a school record. Garrity broke the school record for consecutive games started of 85, formerly held by Gary Novak (1971-74) and John Paxson (1980-83).

GARRITY NO. 4 IN CAREER SCORING: Garrity enters today's game with 1,877 career points, which places him fourth in Notre Dame career scoring history. David Rivers is No. 3 with 2,058 points from 1984-88 while the career leader is Austin Carr with 2,560 points from 1968-71. Garrity has scored in double figures in 91 of his 102 career games. Garrity has scored 20 or more points in 42 career games and has scored in double figures in 37 straight contests and 76 of the past 79 games.

THIRTY SOMETHING: Garrity's 37-point game vs. Seton Hall on Jan. 17 marked the sixth time, and second in three games, that he has scored 30-plus points in a game. Garrity also scored 32 points in Notre Dame's win over Rutgers on January 11.

GARRITY ON VITALE TEAM: Garrity was named a midseason first team All-American by ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale. Garrity was joined on this team by Antwan Jamison (his midseason player of the year), Paul Pierce of Kansas, Bonzi Wells of Ball State and Arizona's Mike Bibby. Raef LaFrentz of Kansas was an honorary member of the first team.

GARRITY IS TURNOVER FREE VS. FIU: Garrity scored 24 points and had seven rebounds vs. Florida International on Dec. 20 and also played the entire game without a turnover. The last time Garrity went without a turnover in a game was Feb. 28, 1996, a 71-59 loss to Miami in which Garrity scored 20 points and had eight rebounds.

GARRITY'S HONORS IN REVIEW: Last season, Pat Garrity was:

* the BIG EAST Player of the Year

* a first team GTE Academic All-America pick and now has a 3.679 grade point average

* a unanimous first team All-BIG EAST selection

* was named honorable mention All-America selection by the Associated Press and Basketball Weekly

GARRITY, INGELSBY AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS: Garrity is tied as the eighth leading scorer in the country through games of Jan. 30 at 23.3 points per game. Charlie Jones of Long Island University is first at 29.1 points per game. Meanwhile, Ingelsby is 17th in the country in assists per game at 6.4. Ahlon Lewis of Arizona State leads the country at 9.2.

IRISH IN BIG EAST STATISTICS: Here is how the Notre Dame players and team stand in the latest BIG EAST statistics through Feb. 1.

In team statistics, Notre Dame is second in field goal percentage (46.1), second in three-point field goal percentage (37.6), fifth in rebounding offense (40.1), fourth in rebounding margin (+4.2), first in assists (18.28) and second in assist/turnover ratio (1.11). In conference games, Notre Dame is third in field goal percentage (44.6), fourth in rebounding (40.0), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (33.7), third in rebounding margin (+2.4), first in assists (16.70) and second in assist/turnover ratio (1.02).

Garrity's 37 points vs. Seton Hall on Jan. 17 is the second-highest in the BIG EAST this year in all games and conference games and Ingelsby's 12 assists vs. Indiana are tied as the second-best in all games. Friel's eight three-point field goals vs. Syracuse are the most by a BIG EAST player in both overall and conference games this season.

Garrity's 12 field goals vs. Seton Hall are tied as the second-most in a conference game this year. Garrity's 12 free throws vs. the Pirates are tied for the highest in a conference game this year and his 16 attempts vs. Pittsburgh are the highest.

Garrity's five double-doubles are the second highest in conference games this year and he is tied for fourth with five overall.

Notre Dame's 91 points vs. Rutgers are the second-highest in conference play this year as are its 34 field goals vs. the Scarlet Knights. Notre Dame's 13 three-point field goals made vs. Syracuse are highest in a conference game this year.

GARRITY NAMED PRESEASON BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Garrity was named the 1997-98 BIG EAST Conference preseason player of the year at the league's annual media day, which was held Wed., Nov. 5, in New York City .

Garrity, who was the 1996-97 BIG EAST player of the year, was a unanimous choice for the award and was named to the all-BIG EAST preseason first team joined by St. John's senior center Zendon Hamilton, Miami junior forward Tim James, Pittsburgh junior guard Vonteego Cummings and Seton Hall sophomore guard Shaheen Holloway.

The second team was Richard Hamilton of Connecticut, Jamel Thomas of Providence, Felipe Lopez of St. John's, Todd Burgan of Syracuse and Damian Owens of West Virginia. Ron Artest of St. John's was the preseason rookie of the year.

For just the second time since 1985, the BIG EAST Conference has a returning player of the year in Garrity. The last returning BIG EAST player of the year was Villanova's Kerry Kittles, who won the award in 1994-95. Previously, Patrick Ewing of Georgetown and Chris Mullin of St. John's shared the award in 1983-84 and returned for their senior seasons.

In the preseason coaches poll, Syracuse was picked to win the BIG EAST 7, while Connecticut was the pick in the BIG EAST 6. Notre Dame was picked fifth in the BIG EAST 6.

GARRITY GARNERS PRESEASON HONORS: Garrity has earned '97-'98 preseason honors from virtually every publication and preseason team that has been announced thus far. They include:

* one of five national player of the year candidates according to Street and Smith's yearbook

* one of the 10 preseason candidates for the Naismith College Player of the Year award, given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club

* one of the top 25 preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, given by the Los Angeles Tipoff Club

* the third-best power forward in the country according to The Sporting News yearbook

* the fourth-best power forward in the country according to Street and Smith's yearbook

* the BIG EAST preseason player of the year according to The Sporting News yearbook

GARRITY LEADS USA TEAM: Garrity spent this past summer as a member of the United States Under-22 National Team. Coached by Utah's Rick Majerus, the team played exhibition games in the beginning of the summer against National Basketball Association rookie teams and then traveled to Australia for the World Under-22 Championship from August 1-10. The United States team finished fifth at that event, losing to host Australia in the quarterfinals by an 81-63 score and then beating Lithuania and Turkey in the consolation bracket. In the preliminary round, the United States beat Yugoslavia, New Zealand, China and Lithuania and lost to Puerto Rico.

Garrity was the leading scorer on the United States team, averaging 11.8 points per contest and was the second-leading rebounder at 4.5 boards per game. Garrity was the leading scorer for the team in three games and tied for the lead in another. Other members of the team included Mike Jones from TCU, Cory Carr from Texas Tech and Sam Jacobson from Minnesota.

INGELSBY IN STARTING LINEUP: Ingelsby has started all 18 games this season and is averaging 7.1 points per game with 2.9 rebounds and has recorded a total of 111 assists (6.2 per game).

Ingelsby had his second career double-double on January 28 against Syracuse as he recorded 10 points and 10 assists. His first one came against Florida International (Dec. 20) when he had a career-high 16 points with 11 assists.

Ingelsby had a career-high 12 assists against Indiana and has recorded eight or more assists in seven games. The 12 assists against the Hoosiers were the most by an opposing player in Assembly Hall against a Bobby Knight-coached team. Ingelsby has four career games with 10 assists or higher.

Ingelsby has played 593 minutes this season and committed just 51 turnovers -- one for every 11.6 minutes of play. The freshman has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.18 assists for every turnover. The last freshman to start at Notre Dame in his collegiate debut was current junior Antoni Wyche, who had 16 points against Akron in 1995.

FRIEL MORE THAN THREES: Friel scored a career-high 30 points in the win over Syracuse on Jan. 21 and connected on eight of ten three-point field goal attempts. Friel's eight trey set the Notre Dame single-game record of seven, set by Ryan Hoover against Dayton on Jan. 9, 1993.

Friel had six three-pointers in the first half against Syracuse to help the Irish rally from an 11-0 deficit at the beginning of the game and take a 38-36 halftime lead.

But, Friel has established himself as more than just a three-point scoring threat. Friel made his first collegiate start on Saturday against St. John's and scored 16 points in 28 minutes of play with just one three-pointer.

Friel was a key for the Irish in their late rally as he scored 12 of his 16 points in the final 6:38 of the game as the Irish turned a 51-44 deficit into a 73-65 win.

Friel also scored 11 points including a game-winning 15-foot jump shot with 0.4 seconds left as the Irish defeated West Virginia 74-72 on Jan. 15. Friel had 12 points in Notre Dame's win over Rutgers on Jan. 11 to score in double figures in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

Friel is is now the third-leading scorer on the team at 9.2 points per game and is averaging 16.8 minutes of playing time per game. He has scored in double figures in five of the past six games, after scoring in double figures just once in the first 12 games of the season. Friel is averaging 14.8 points per game in the last six games.

Friel leads Notre Dame with 42 three-point field goals and has registered just 10 two-point field goals this year. Of his 121 field goals attempts, 87 are from three-point range. In BIG EAST play, 27 of his 34 field goals are from three range as are 55 of his 76 attempts.

Friel shoots 48.3 percent from three-point range in overall games and just 29.4 percent from two-point range. In BIG EAST play, those numbers are 48.3 percent for threes and 33.3 for twos.

COMING OFF THE BENCH: Friel's 30 points was the most by a BIG EAST player in a conference game as a substitute since Greg Woodard of Villanova had 33 points off the bench against Pittsburgh on January 30, 1991.

MANNER OF TRUST: Manner scored a career high 15 points against West Virginia on Jan. 16. Manner, who connected on seven-of-12 field goal attempts, and added 10 rebounds to record his first career double-double. Manner scored eight of Notre Dame's final 14 points.

Manner had another solid game on Saturday when he scored 10 points with seven rebounds in the win over St. John's. Manner has scored in double figures in four games this season and in in 22 games for his career. This season, he is averaging 7.1 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

RASMUSSEN MAKES FIRST CAREER START: Irish freshman center Hans Rasmussen (Portland, Ore.) made his first career start in the Irish win over St. John's on Saturday and scored one point with five rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

Rasmussen had a career-high nine rebounds vs. Connecticut on Jan. 3 as he came off the bench to play 20 minutes against the Huskies. Notre Dame ran into foul trouble vs. Connecticut which led to Rasmussen's 20 minutes of playing time, another career high.

Rasmussen has played in all 18 games this season and is averaging 2.0 points per game and 2.6 rebounds.

HICKEY SETS CAREER HIGHS: Notre Dame junior center Phil Hickey (Wellsboro, Pa.) had a career-high 16 rebounds over Seton Hall on Jan. 17. His previous career high was 12 rebounds vs. TCU in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament last season.

Hickey scored a season-high 16 points in the win over Rutgers on Jan. 11, including 14 first half points on seven-of-nine shooting from the field. The 16 points tied his career high as he also scored 16 vs. Connecticut in his freshman year.

Hickey has scored in double figures in eight games this season. Hickey is also the second-leading rebounder on the team at 7.9 per game.

WYCHE HITS CAREER HIGH: Junior guard Antoni Wyche (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) has started all 16 games this season and scored a career-high 20 points vs. St. John's on Dec. 30. Wyche was five of nine from the field and four of eight from three-point range. Wyche's previous career high was 17 points against Indiana this year and Miami last year.

Wyche injured his mouth in the first half of the Jan. 17 game vs. Seton Hall and he required stitches both inside and outside his mouth. He later returned to the game.

Wyche also scored 11 points in the Jan. 11 win over Rutgers, which was his seventh double-figure scoring game of the season and the 16th of his career. His five assists were a career high.

He is the team's fourth-leading scorer averaging 8.8 points per game. Wyche averaged 3.7 points per game as a freshman in 1995-96 and put in 5.5 points per game last season.

IRISH ON TELEVISION: Notre Dame will once again make a number of appearances on national and local television this season. Notre Dame appears on NBC twice (Jan. 31 at St. John's and Feb. 28 at Providence), ESPN twice (Jan. 21 vs. Syracuse and Feb. 25 vs. Georgetown) and on ESPN2 twice (Dec. 3 at Indiana and Feb. 17 vs. Connecticut).
Notre Dame makes six appearances on FOX Sports Chicago as part of the ESPN-Plus package: Dec. 6, at Pittsburgh; Dec. 14, vs. Drexel; Jan. 3, at Connecticut; Jan. 11, vs. Rutgers; Jan. 28, vs. Villanova; Feb. 14, at Miami. Two games, in addition to the NBC games, appear on WNDU-TV in South Bend (Jan. 17 at Seton Hall and Feb. 7 at Georgetown) and two others on WBND-TV in South Bend (Jan. 15 at West Virginia and Feb. 5 at Rutgers).

IRISH ON THE RADIO: Host Communications, Inc., originates the Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network for the 10th year in 1997-98.

Jack Lorri will handle the play by play of all Notre Dame games and this season will mark his 29th year announcing Irish games. Lorri spent his first 14 years with Notre Dame as sports director of WTRC-AM in Elkhart, Ind., and then five doing games on WGN-AM in Chicago before teaming up with Host Communications. He served as sports director for WSJV-TV in Elkhart for 13 years beginning in 1967 and did play by play for Kentucky football and basketball on WLAP in Lexington in 1961-63. Lorri also served as sports director of the Tribune Radio Network in Chicago.

Jack Nolan handles the color commentary on the network. He has been a sports anchor at WNDU-TV, the NBC affiliate in South Bend, for over a decade. He has done play by play of Irish basketball on both television and radio as well as combining on various live telecasts of Notre Dame football. He is also the host of WNDU's highly-successful Saturday and Sunday morning news broadcasts.

Stations scheduled to be on the Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network this season in the South Bend area are: WNDU 1490 AM and 92.9 FM in South Bend, WEFM-95.9 FM in Michigan City, WGOM-860 AM in Marion and WLUV 96.7 FM and 1520 AM in Rockford, Ill.

HEAD COACH JOHN MacLEOD
Notre Dame head coach John MacLeod (Bellarmine '59) is in his seventh season in charge of the Irish program and has an overall record of 90-100 at the school and has a 180-169 mark as a college coach, which also includes six seasons at Oklahoma (1967-73). MacLeod was a head coach in the National Basketball Association for 18 seasons (Phoenix Suns from 1973-87, Dallas Mavericks from 1987-90 and the New York Knicks from 1990-91). MacLeod had an overall mark of 707-657 in the NBA.

MacLeod was named the 1997 BIG EAST coach of the year after he led his Irish to a 8-10 regular season mark in the league, as Notre Dame was tied as the second-most improved club in the conference.